Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
1
June 2015
Social educational work
- with refugee minor asylum
seekers
www.aieji.net
2
Table of contents
Preface ............................................................................................. 4
The purpose of the project ............................................................... 6
Project group and project material ................................................. 7
Who are the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers and what are
their rights? .................................................................................... 8
The voice and resources of the child or .......................................... 10
the young person ........................................................................... 10
An empirical study among AIEJI members ...................................11
Facts about the interviews ............................................................ 12
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Denmark .................... 13
What the refugee minors say .......................................................... 13
Social educators in Denmark .......................................................... 14
The social educators about the refugee minors .......................................... 14 The social educators about their job in general.......................................... 15 About conflict management ...................................................................... 17 About refugee minors who don’t obtain residence permit ......................... 17
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Italy ............................ 19
What the refugee minors say .......................................................... 19
Social educators in Italy .................................................................. 20
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Israel ........................... 22
Social educators in Israel ................................................................. 22
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Spain .......................... 24
Social educators in Spain ................................................................ 24
Reflections on empirical studies and theoretical perspectives....... 25
Trust ................................................................................................... 26
Resources ........................................................................................... 26
3
Resilience - a theoretical view ........................................................ 27
Trauma-conscious care – a framework understanding .............. 29
Life history work .............................................................................. 31
The narrative – a theoretical view ................................................. 31
Language and communications ..................................................... 33
Conflicts, wars and rights ............................................................... 34
Respect ............................................................................................... 34
Family and job .................................................................................. 35
Fellowship and network ................................................................. 36
The common third – a theoretical view ........................................ 36
Lifting everyone's spirits together ................................................. 38
The social educator caught in cross-pressures ............................. 38
How social educators can support unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers ........................................................................................... 41
Concluding perspectives ............................................................... 44
Annex 1 ......................................................................................... 48
Annex 2 ......................................................................................... 52
4
Preface
At the AEIJI General Assembly in Luxembourg in April 2013 it
was decided that a project concerning refugee minors should be
carried out. This was due to the assessment that supporting these
children and young people is a very big challenge for the social
educators working in this field. They work with a group of
children and young people dealing with a very unsafe
background, being all alone far away from their home countries
and with no knowledge of their future life situations.
Furthermore, the social educators also work within the framework
of a system where decisions made on a judicial and governmental
level have a fundamental impact on the life situations of the
minors now and further on.
With this publication, our aim is to encourage and inspire social
educators in their work with unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers. We hope that this publication will give pause to
reflections and questions about the situation for the children and
young people and shed light on the social educational work –
especially how it is so very crucial for the refugee minors and a
very challenging task for the social educators.
Benny Andersen
President of AIEJI
5
Introduction
During the years since the Second World War there have not been
as many refugee minors as now. AIEJI was founded in 1949 when
children and young people were placed in desperate situations
because of the war. Due to the post-war issues at the time it was
decided by German, French and Dutch professionals in the child
care sector that a special effort would be made on the issue of
these minors. The Association promoted special institutions and
camps, even children’s villages, to be created with help from
volunteers and professionals, foundations etc.
Today the historical context is different in many ways. At the
moment, we have global issues due to civil wars, economic crises,
political and religious persecution, and especially the war in Syria
entering into its fifth year in 2015. But we are still dealing with the
same issues concerning refugee minors who cross borders. They
have only limited rights in the countries they arrive at and they
are especially challenged by the fact that no adults have the
responsibility for them.
The starting point of this project is to find out more about the
refugee minors: What are their conditions of life? How are social
educators working with the minors? How (and if) inclusion
strategies are present in societies? These were questions to be
analysed for AIEJI - to focus on life possibilities and resources,
and how social educators can work for a decent life for the
children and young people who might stay in the new country for
good, flee to another country or repatriate.
Early in the project it was decided to focus on unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers – a vulnerable group because of their very insecure
life situations, their solitariness and the fact that they are a
minority within the broad group of refugees in vulnerable
positions. But also a strong group considering the strength
mobilised in order to accomplish fleeing under very challenging
circumstances, a strength being so important for the social
educator to see and work with.
Unaccompanied refugee minors are defined in this report as
minors who have fled not being with their parents or other adult(s) with
responsibility. The minors are without permanent residence permits and
6
they do not necessarily have status as refugees pursuant to the Refugee
Convention 1
The purpose of the project
The intention has been to shed light on the conditions of life of
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers - and especially how social
educational work is being carried out in practice and how it
benefits the minors.
The purpose is to gain and spread knowledge about good social
educational practice across borders working with this both
vulnerable and strong group and to inspire and motivate social
educators in different countries to find ways to support the
refugee minors in the best way. This of course also depends on the
politics conducted in each country and hence the financial
resources being spent on the minors. This report will only touch
on the first. Not because the political priorities are considered
unimportant. Not at all. But because it has been deemed of value
to shed light on the social educational work in the field and how it
influences and benefits the minors.
Hopefully this report will also reach actors who have the power to
change the life possibilities of the unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers. A very good starting point is to get to know more about
this group and the professionals who can give the needed
support. Hence we request everybody place this report or the
highlights from it in their channels – not only to professionals in
the field but also professionals at the political level who must bear
in mind that every country that has signed the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child has the obligation to protect
unaccompanied children and youths which Article 20 Children
deprived of family care and Article 22 Refugee children address.
1 _
Article 1 in the Refugee Convention (1951) defines a
refugee as a person, who has fled from home country and in consequence
of a well-justified fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality,
affiliation with a particular social group or political views - and find
oneselve outside the country in which he or she has citizenship rights,
and to which he or she is in no condition to or do not desire to return.
7
The UN Child Convention's article 20 concerns children without
parents and the state's obligation to arrange for special protection,
including alternative care, and the UN Child Convention's article
22 concerns in particular refugee children and the obligations of
the states to arrange for special protection and to co-operate with
responsible organisations on such.
Project group and project material
The report presents the main issues from a study performed by a
project group with representatives from Israel, Uruguay,
Luxembourg, Italy, Norway and Denmark (AIEJI board
members). But also including issues brought by experts in the
field representing their knowledge at an AIEJI seminar in Rome
September 2014.
The fundamental publications being used:
- Children on the move, IOM International Organization for
Migration, 2013.
- Statement of Good Practice, Children in Europe
Programme, 4th. rev. Edition, Save the Children, UNHCR,
UNICEF, 2009.
- Refugee Children, Guidelines on Protection and Care,
UNHCR 1994.
- The UN Refugee Convention 1951.
- Guideline for Alternative Care of Children, UN 2010
- Global Trends, UNHCR 2013
- The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and social
education – children placed outside the home, AIEJI, 2012
- The Professional Competences of Social Educators – a
conceptual Framework, AIEJI, 2010.
Empirical studies:
- Open qualitative interviews with social educators from
Spain, Italy, Israel and Denmark.
- Open qualitative interviews with unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers from Somalia and Sri Lanka (girls in
Denmark, August 2014) and unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers from Cameroon, Gambia, Tunisia, Iran and
Bangladesh (boys in Italy May 2014).
- Questionnaires regarding quantitative data from a range of
countries : Germany, Slovakia, Uruguay, Luxembourg,
Norway, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland,
8
Finland, Australia, Italy, Spain, Croatia and the
Netherlands.
Thank you to
The social educators and the refugee minors who were
interviewed and were very important informants for the project.
The informants from AIEJI's network who answered the
questionnaire. Anna Sito (Italian social educator and in 2014 a
Master's student) who has been supporting the project by
summarising fundamental documents - and Miriem Solsona (from
the Spanish AIEJI member organisation CEESC), who did the
Interviews in Spain. But also thanks to the speakers at the seminar
in Rome (September 2014): Viviana Valastro from Save the
Children, Federica Sorge - Lawyer's Association Rights Project in
Italy, Niccola Titta - supervisor at an Italian foster home for
minors, Thomas Vollmer – former board member of AIEJI, Sibylle
Fussen and Lara Lochmattel – social educators from Switzerland.
Who are the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers and what are
their rights?
As already indicated two articles from the UN Child Convention
are especially important for our issue and tell us the right of the
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers who are the focus of this
study:
20. CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF FAMILY CARE - A child deprived of
his or her family environment is especially entitled to protection and
care, for example foster placement, or if necessary, placement in suitable
institutions or adoption.
22. REFUGEE CHILDREN - A child who is seeking refugee status or
who is considered a refugee shall receive appropriate protection and
humanitarian assistance. The state shall in co-operation with
international organisations assist an unaccompanied child in being
reunited with his or her parents.
*
A mixed picture is drawn of the refugee minor asylum seekers
who are the focus of this study. Some are fleeing from civil war, a
life as a child soldier, conflicts and poverty, while others are
9
fleeing violence within their own family or other kinds of
unworthy conditions. The greater part of the minors are boys.
Some refugee minors arrive from refugee camps and others from a
background with lots of resources, sometimes educated as well.
Some flee from far away countries, while others stay in their
country but flee to another region. Some arrive on boats where too
many people are stuffed together, others arrive by plane, and
some are running all most the entire way. Some are trafficked.
Some have uncles, aunts or other family in the new country, while
others have nobody at all. There are those who wish to reunite
with their family, those who want to avoid ever seeing them
again, and those who have lost their family.
What they all have in common is a wish to improve their life
situation and hope for at better future. The route often has been
carefully planned and involves many different people – and not
only people smugglers. For some, fleeing has been distinctly
traumatising, involving many stops along the way and including
long periods spent in hiding. While fleeing, many have
experienced conditions of constant fear concerning who to trust,
and who wants to cheat or do one harm to them.
The number of refugee minors world-wide is hard to determine,
but every year, just within the EU, some 10,000-15,000 are received
and about 100,000 are already there. In 2013 UNCHR counted
more than 25,300 individual asylum applications from refugee
minors in 77 countries all in all. That is a lot more than in 2012
(Global Trends, UNHCR 2013). However these numbers only
include the groups who are being registered by the authorities of
the countries. They do not include all the minors living in the
streets, working in factories or households, or under other slave-
like conditions and without contact with the authorities. It is
impossible to determine exactly how many children or young
people this concerns.
Some unaccompanied refugee minors never find their way to the systems
for asylum seeking children or youth. They are drifting around, they
disappear and cross borders. This is a problem in many countries and it
calls for an increase in the international work for helping this group.
These children and youths are due to the delimitation not included in
this report – but never the less it is important to be aware of the
obligation to shed light on these unaccompanied minors as well.
10
The voice and resources of the child or the young person
In 2010 a large conference was held in Barcelona entitled:
International Conference on Protecting and Supporting Children
on the Move. At this occasion, a broad variety of governmental
and non-governmental organisations were represented and two
main issues stood in the centre of the discussion. These were
addressed afterwards in the publication "Children on the move",
International Organization of Migration, 2013. The issues are:
- The importance of listening to the minors’ stories about
their flight, the background and the situation now – as a
professional working in the field or on an administrative
or political level.
- The importance of focusing on the special strength these
challenged minors often contain. A strength that comes to
manifest in their ability to flee and overcome unforeseen
obstacles - skills to be adapted in the current life situation
and in order to benefit from the possibilities this situation
brings. In this perspective, the minor is not seen primarily
as a victim.
Both issues have influenced the perspective of this report. We
have chosen to incorporate both perspectives and they have
played a role in the interviews with the professional social
educators as well as the refugee minors (see the interview guide
annex 1). The interviews have been carried out especially for this
purpose to focus not only on their challenges due to their situation
as unaccompanied minor asylum seekers but also on the
possibilities for the social educators to provide support in order
to improve life situations.
To be a child or youth cannot be viewed as a waystation on the
way to becoming an adult. To be a child or youth is something in
itself. The voices of children and youths must be heard, and their
resources must be used actively to strengthen life as children and
youths in the here and now. Such a view of children and youths
also lies at the basis for the UN Child Convention, and ”In
Statement of Good Practice ”(UNHCR, Unicef, Save the Children,
2009), a program that aims to protect the rights and promote the
interests of refugee minors coming to or through Europe. It is
11
highlighted that the children and the young people should always
be enabled and encouraged to voice their views.
An empirical study among AIEJI members
Members of AIEJI from 16 countries answered questionnaires in
the autumn of 2013 with a quantitative focus concerning the
situation of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in their
country, and about the social educators who participated and
roles in the work (see questionnaire annex 2). We will briefly
present the answers here.
The countries that answered the questionnaire by the national
organisation for social educators, members of AIEJI, were
Germany, Slovakia, Uruguay, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Norway,
Israel, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Australia, Italy, Spain, Croatia,
Austria and the Netherlands.
The answers given represent only a small part of the world, but
show that refugee minors flee from many countries with certain
countries more represented in all contributing countries. The
countries where the most minors are fleeing from are Afghanistan,
Somalia and Syria. Countries in Africa and the Middle East seem
to be highly represented in the countries we have information
about here. Most of the countries have a minimum of 20
nationalities among their unaccompanied minors. That means that
every country needs to build their services for this group on a
basis of being able to handle many different cultures and
languages.
The numbers of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers vary
widely. Italy is a country with very high number of refugees, and
also minors coming alone. That is because Italy is a common way
to go from Africa to Europe, and many people come by the sea.
This gives Italy, and also other countries in the same situation,
such as Spain and Australia, special challenges.
Everywhere, there seems to be a large amount of boys who have
fled. Some countries, for example Germany, report that only 5 %
of the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are girls. The ages of
the children are mostly between 15- 18. Switzerland reports for
example that over 86 % are of this age when they arrive.
12
Most countries in our survey have special residential care for the
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Care in a residential home,
foster care and living with relatives is common for these children.
But it is also a mixed picture here as to whether the children or
youths live with other children under public care, or with other
refugees. It seems like the rights for these children are not as
strong as for the nation's own children in several countries. In
many countries it seems that most children and young people are
given a trustee to help them make certain that their rights are
being fulfilled.
In all countries, social educators are a larger or smaller part of the
professions that work with the refugee minors, both where they
live, and during their schooling and recreational time.
Facts about the interviews
All in all, we interviewed 11 social educators, primarily women,
and two unaccompanied minor asylum seekers (girls). In addition,
7 social educators answered questions from the interview guide in
a questionnaire and 5 unaccompanied minor asylum seekers
(boys) did the same. Five of the social educators work in
residential homes in Israel, two at a residential centre in Denmark,
4 at residential centres in Spain, 6 at residential homes in Italy
and 1 at a social service department in the District of Rome. The
interviews in Italy were questionnaires. The minors who were
interviewed were in Denmark at the time - and the minors who
were given questionnaires were in Italy.
You can read the main issues from the interviews and
questionnaires below. First, the voices of the refugee minors are
represented and, afterwards, the voices of the social educators.
You will see that the excerpts have different characteristics, which
is due to the fact that the interviews and questionnaires were
processed by different persons from different countries, and that
has implied variations in presenting the empirical studies. When
dealing with the empirical studies in Italy, issues brought up by
the speakers at the AIEJI seminar in Rome (September 2014) also
will be included.
13
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Denmark
Background: The refugee minors (12-18 years) are placed in
refugee centres in the countryside. They are primarily from
Eritrea, Syria, Somalia and Uganda. The average stay at the
centres is 3 months. If they get a residence permit they leave the
centre and most of them live together with other young people in
a flat - or houseshares with social educators supporting them.
Some stay with families.
When the refugee minors don’t get a residence permit (after
appealing three times) they may stay at the centre until age 18, but
in many cases they will be transferred to special institutions
because they are in need of special care.
- What the refugee minors say
“We feel good here, more than in our countries. We feel more safe here.”
This was said by a girl from Sri Lanka who was interviewed
together with a girl from Somalia. About the social educators, one
of the girls says:
“They are very good at taking care of us, if we have any problems or…”
“If somebody is sad they come and speak to you. Before, we were living
with the boys… And the boys fight sometimes, and the adults say “go to
your room” and after that they come and ask us if we are fine.” In
Denmark, boys and girls are separated at some locations into
separate living units and the quotation evidences the benefits this
can bring.
The girls are very concerned about learning the Danish language
and they also express great will to improve their English. Their
first wish for their life situation is to live in Denmark and they
wish to be educated as nurses. They express satisfaction with the
activities arranged for them at the residential centre. They
mention school, swimming, fitness and shopping. “But sometimes
it is boring, especially Saturdays we have no activities. Well, we can go
shopping . We can go alone. The staff cannot go with us because there are
only two who work here and we’re sixteen girls.” Being bored is
probably a circumstance for all teenagers – and being a teenager is
a life circumstance for many of the minors. Thus it is also
important to view the children and youths first and foremost as
children and youths, and subsequently as children and youths
who have fled alone and whose futures are very uncertain.
14
- Social educators in Denmark
Social educators comprise the largest group of professionals in the
work with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Often, they are
employed on shorter-term contracts, because there is great
variability in the number of minors who come to the country.
These short-term hirings and the uncertain situations of the
refugee minors obviously provide the social educators with some
especially challenging working conditions.
- The social educators about the refugee minors
“Sometimes I think, I feel so sorry for them, they’re not very old, and
they cannot do certain things alone. But they came up here by
themselves. They can manage a lot more than you think. And those
coming with the wildest scars and missing limbs, they are very patient
and ask if they can see a doctor…”
“They show so much patience. We could not have a group of Danish
children together and then have a house like this. It has given them
something, all the hardship in life, they are so tolerant…”
“They show great respect towards us and each other, even though they
are so many and so different…Also regarding religion”
“The biggest challenge is to trust adults. To trust that what you’re
saying is also what is going to happen….You also see it if they obtain
residence permit. They don’t really believe it”
The social educators describe a very complex picture of the
children and the youths. They are simultaneously both
traumatised as well as strong. They are tolerant, respectful and
inquisitive. In addition, they have an enormous will to learn the
language.
“They really want to learn Danish. On the weekends they sit with their
homework and their books reading - one cow, one horse and so
on…Sometimes they nearly have competitions in finishing as many
exercises as possible…And they learn fast”
“We try to speak Danish with them, but sometimes I start speaking
English. Once a boy said to me – why are you speaking English, I am in
Denmark?”
15
- The social educators about their job in general
The refugee minors find themselves in a waiting position, and the
social educators experience having an important task in being in a
position to give them support in being able to handle life in this
waiting position. In this connection, it is crucial that they feel
themselves to be welcome, respected and safe.
“It is very important that we follow them from the bus to the room - that
we show them everything in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and so on. And
some of the other kids also help and show. They have a function. It’s a
win-win…the first introductory talk should also be as soon as possible.
The procedure is so very important.”
“You must treat them with respect and acknowledgment. You get 100%
back. And it can be many things. Of course you don’t walk with shoes on
their carpets. It is so respectless.”
“I need to support them being in a waiting position. Every day - if I can
talk with the boys and girls about something else - if I can distract them,
lead their thoughts away from what they come from... When we have
been laughing and fooling about, just for 10 minutes, I have a good
feeling. Of course they miss and think of people back home. I try to tell
them that they have to keep in mind that they are here in Denmark now,
they have a chance here, and if you are happy here it will make your
family happy at home…”
It is the present that is being emphasised: What does the child or
youth need right here and now? Grand plans must not be made
for the future, and the social educator must not dig into the past.
The latter is far too vulnerable, because in the life situation that
they currently find themselves in, there is nobody to ”pick them
up”.
“What we do is that we act in the moment. We don’t work with bigger
plans for future, we’re just there, and sometimes that is enough. And we
also do service, I mean we are talking about kids. We guide them how to
cook, wash and clean. We teach them how to brush teeth. Many from
Eritrea have always been using a stick. We try to make them sleep
without their clothes, but it is difficult because they have this flight
instinct. We’re being kind of parents for them. We are the only ones they
have here.”
16
“It is my impression that it is not good to open the past. There is nobody
to “pick up” afterwards. I never ask about it, I must say. But if some of
them want to tell about it we listen, and that is how it is.”
“And then try to change the perspective in a way. I hear this is very hard
and I cannot imagine how… But now you are here in Denmark and you
must try to focus on the positive. There are lots of holes that you might
want to ask more about but it is not the best for children…”
As a point of departure, the children and youths have difficulty
trusting others. The need to have extra security in order to build
trust. In this connection, the social educator plays a special role.
He or she must be clear in their expressions, create security and
show themselves to be somebody that they can trust. The setting
of boundaries obviously also plays a role in the social educator's
ability to be able to preserve their personal integrity in a very
demanding job.
The social educators try in addition to motivate the refugee
minors to build a network outside the centre, so they can gain a
feeling for life outside and perhaps in a small way build up some
relationships. In this context, the ”representative” of the refugee
minor also plays an important role. The representative is a person
from the local area who supports the children and youths and this
at the same time establishes a connection with the civil society.
“The representatives also take them out as a kind of guardian. Everybody
under 18 has a representative, who has knowledge about their case and
joins them for interviews and meetings. Last year there was a girl
celebrating Christmas at home with her representative - it was a great
experience.”
There are also possibilities to create contacts through the activities
that the social educators frame and participate with them in -
through sports and excursions for example.
“They are very happy to take part in activities. A lot of them like to sleep
in shelters. And in the summer we also have the circus and so on. And to
participate in Viking expeditions. They talk about it a long time after”
“Many are very good at running. I’m so proud. We participate in
competitions and we cheer and we are totally crazy. It is a great thing to
have together”.
17
- About conflict management
The social educators express the importance of listening to all
parties when conflicts arise – and of not taking sides. In some
situations it is necessary to involve an interpreter. In all situations,
it is important to follow up when conflicts arise. However, first
and foremost, it is important that the children and youths have the
trust that is needed in order to contact an adult when problems
arise.
“It is important to listen to all parties and you cannot take sides. And I
don’t want to listen to others but only to the persons in the conflict. We
follow up, sometimes with translation, and if it is serious also with
Lisbeth (the leader). She’s an authority and they know that she has the
power to say I’m sorry but you cannot live here…”
“They learn to tell us if somebody has said something, I mean racism for
instance (does not happen often)…We simply will not have it. This
centre is for everybody. We get kind of a relationship with the children, it
is not deep, but they trust us to tell us that somebody said this and this…
And then we can prevent a conflict.”
“And if they fight I just walk in between them. They would never touch
one of us. They stop and others come and help”
- About refugee minors who don’t obtain residence permit
“Most of them go down. And some of them simply give up. It’s so…”
The situation is very difficult when a child or a youth receives a
final rejection. The social educator must try in the best manner
possible to inspire him or her with courage or a belief that there
are possibilities, and the social educator must participate in
discovering such possibilities.
“..What can you do because this is your reality. Do you have a network?
We need to make a little pressure. But many of them have experienced a
lot of things that we don’t know of, and they say it’s not possible for me
to go back. They will kill me. And I don’t know what he has been
doing…But there is a high risk that he is going back to it…”
“Last week we had a boy. He got his second rejection, you can have three
all in all, and then he collapsed. He went away for the weekend, came
back Sunday and set his room on fire. He’s in prison now. And do you
18
wonder why? He’s such a good boy and you cannot imagine what he is
going back to…”
A frustrating element for the social educators in their work is also
that they are not involved in the processing of the cases of these
minors:
“It’s like they (Governing For Foreigners) do not look at the person when
deciding on a residence permit. They don’t ask us who actually know
them and know maybe how they will be in Denmark, and we write a lot.
But it has no influence. I mean, some of them, they cannot go back, but
with some, I mean you can see it will never make any sense.”
“They look at the group not at the person. I had this boy – why me? And
I told him you’re just a number for them. It is about money…”
In addition, there is criticism from the social educators on the
manner in which they experience the interviews with the
authorities that the refugee minors are summoned to in
connection with their asylum applications:
“It’s insane. It’s an inquisition. And we’re talking about kids. And if
your stories are not closely reasoned, it can spoil everything…If the story
differs from the first conference. How many children 14, 15 years can tell
the exact same story?…”
“And there was this boy. He converted to Christianity, had been that for
long and went to church on Sundays. He was examined by Government
for Foreigners. They asked him about things in the Bible. That is what I
mean with rights. It is grotesque. I am an ordinary Christian person, but
I don’t know where to look it up in the Bible. They asked him for his
favourite quotation, what it meant and why it was his favourite…”
As the quotation shows, the social educators have the experience
that the rights of the children and youths are in some instances
trodden upon. For example when age is not taken into account or
when doubts are raised concerning for example religion.
The statements show that the social educators are working in a
field where a systemic rationality has determining influence on
the working conditions. The social educators do not have a
mandate to change conditions that have such large significance to
the courses of the lives that they have to support in their daily
19
working life. This will be addressed in further depth in this
publication.
*
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Italy
Background: The unaccompanied minor asylum seekers live at
residential homes together with Italian minors or in foster
families. Most of the children come from Arab countries, but some
are also from Albania and Morocco. According to Viviana
Valastro from Save the Children in Italy (a presenter at the AIEJI
Rome seminar 2014), they often view Italy as a transit location on
the way to countries such as Sweden, Germany or the UK, where
they hope to gain a residency permit in the long run. Some try to
avoid having their fingerprints taken in Italy, because the Dublin
Convention states that asylum applicants must have their
applications for asylum processed in the first EU country of their
journey into the union. Some refugee minors disappear in the
dead of night and the majority of them in a northerly direction.
- What the refugee minors say
The refugee minors are very motivated to learn the Italian
language, to go to school and to be trained in daily life tasks. They
feel that the residential home is a good place to be and they
consider it as an opportunity for a new beginning. But still they
are very challenged by social integration, new language, culture
and habits.
In their daily lives, in addition to school and help with their
homework, they are offered different activities that they
themselves have participated in deciding upon, and which they
have an influence over. For example, sports, gardening and
excursions. Most of all, they would like to learn the Italian
language, participate in sports activities and work. In addition,
they say that they would really like to take swimming lessons, to
go on holiday – and to have the possibility to become professional
football players and be pizza chefs.
The Italian language takes up a lot of the time of the refugee
minors, and they state that what can help them on their way are
specialised language courses, conversations with Italians, reading
books and watching TV. In addition, they would like to learn
about social manners, have documents for applying for jobs and
20
to help their families abroad. Last, but not least, they have a need
for a calm existence, where they can think about the future. These
are conditions they share, and expressions are also given of the
significance of living together with someone who understands
their life situation. Here, they can talk about their family, friends
and home country. But at the same time, it is difficult... "It makes
me homesick" "I suffer thinking about my past" "I speak only about
what I want to share"...
While the refugee minors on the one hand value the calm that
their temporary home gives them, they value at the same time
spending time in the surrounding society. It helps them
understand more about the Italian way of living and the cultural
context they find themselves in. Examples of desires for their lives
are opening a shop, becoming an actor or painter, having money
to be able to live better, and being reunited with their family.
The young people say about the social educators in the temporary
homes that it is him or her who teaches, one who thinks of others and
not of themselves, and one who always wants to help if one has a
problem.
- Social educators in Italy
As described above, the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers
live together with Italian minors, who due to one or another
reason have been separated from their families. The social
educators experience a noticeable difference between these two
groups. The first looks at their stay at the institution as helpful,
whereas the other group sees it as a punishment. It is not
surprising that it thus is also the refugee minors who are the most
motivated to learn. They are described as strong-willed,
courageous and determined. They have the capacity to form
relationships and the ability to contribute to the fellowship and to
their living together. They are thankful and show respect for the
adults.
However, the social educators also experience that the refugee
minors have difficulty accepting help, and they have difficulty
speaking about their traumas, let alone approaching any coming
to terms with them. Niccola Titta (supervisor at an Italian
residential home for minors and speaker at the AIEJI Rome
seminar) also describes the challenges the children and youths
21
face. Many are certainly motivated to learn, but they have
difficulty recognising their own abilities and often exhibit self-
effacing behaviour. The combination of this behaviour and their
young ages often results in social educators overlooking those
strengths that have contributed to motivating and carrying out
their flights, describes Niccola Titta. This is in line with one of the
themes that the report "Children on the Move" focuses on: that
the child or youth has many resources and should not first and
foremost be regarded as a victim.
In the responses to the questionnaires, the social educators give
special weight to the importance of exhibiting patience, respect
and tolerance. Any possible prejudices must be addressed and
what fills up the time should not be compassion or feeling sorry
for the minors. As a social educator, one is a reference point and a
role model for the children and youths, however it is important to
remember that it is not possible to solve all the problems that an
individual has. One needs to listen, have empathy and have
knowledge of socio-cultural and religious aspects that the refugee
minor has been shaped by.
The social educators also state that it is important that the social
educator learn basic words from the native language of the
refugee minors. In special situations, it is appropriate to make use
of cultural mediators and/or an interpreter. The non-verbal
communication is important in all communications with the
children and youths, however one also needs to be conscious here
that body movements can be understood differently depending
upon the socio-cultural background.
At the same time it is important to have insight into where the
children and youths have fled from, why they have fled and how
it occurred. This must be viewed in light of each life history being
a part of a larger picture, where global political conditions also
play a significant role. The social educator must also have a
knowledge of the rights of the refugee minors and know the
statutes that are decisive for the processing of the cases of the
children and youths.
According to Niccola Titta, the really big challenge is however to
be in a condition to build up the trust of the children and youths.
There is to a pronounced degree a discrepancy between the trust
that the social educator tries to build up and the distrust that is
22
created by previous experiences, and which simultaneously is fed
by their insecure living situation, and created prejudices they are
confronted with from the surrounding society. They are in part
challenged by the cultural differences and in part by the difficult
job situation that is currently the case in Italy and which does not
contribute to creating a positive attitude towards those people
who come from countries other than Italy.
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Israel
Background: In Israel, most of the unaccompanied minors are
mainly from Eritrea and Sudan. They arrive to Israel via Egypt
and the Sinai desert and are temporarily put into a kind of
detention centre.. The courts enable the authorities to only keep
them for a limited period of time (3-6 months) for identifying
them, assessing them, verifying their age etc. After that, Ministry
of Education is asked by the government to integrate part of these
young people into residential homes.
- Social educators in Israel
Basically, the authorities are looking at minors under the age of
18. However, most of these UAM young people don't have any
papers at all; hence the question of their age is rather often
manipulated. Children decide on the age that seems to them to be
the most profitable. When they don't receive what they want, they
come back and claim their age is different. A perspective on this
could be that in many African countries, as an example, knowing
one's age is not important. Birthdays are not marked and age is
not a reference. In all of Israel, there is only one medical doctor
who specialises in determining their age by X-raying the heel of
the hand. Hence the process of determining age is very slow.
When taken out of the “detention centre” the young people are
placed in residential schools called 'youth villages'. They are
offered full coverage of their basic needs: clothing, food, health
care, and schooling. At the beginning they receive Hebrew classes
and later general studies sometimes also vocational training.
However, in most of the cases they are not collaborating happily
with these programmes. They want to work and earn money to
send home in order to help their families and potentially to pay
the ransoms and other loans their parents took for financing their
flight abroad. This is one of the major problems social educators
23
face while working with these UAM youth. Social educators are
eager to help by supplying a good education and learning
opportunities, offering them a variety of cultural and social
activities that adolescents usually highly value. However, these
young people wouldn't allow themselves the luxury of 'wasting
time' on such activities.
They apply constant pressure to have the possibility to work and
earn money. Sometimes they even run away to the big city
(mainly Tel Aviv) for a few days. They work there in very bad
conditions in restaurants - washing dishes, and other hard labour,
receiving very small payments. Several cases were reported about
girls that were prostituted for money. This gap between the
official program conceived for the UAM and their own wishes is
the basis for most of problems social educators encounter while
working with these young people. An important perspective is
comprised of reflections on how the official programme could
develop so as to be attractive for the minors.
On the one hand, police and immigration authorities are asking
residential homes to take in these young persons so they can be
released from the detention centre. On the other hand, the
immigration office is not ready to allow them any legal status in
the country. They are considered illegal and have to renew their
temporary visa every three months. They are in constant danger
of being put into an airplane and sent back to their home
countries. The social educators are trapped inbetween two
contradictory tendencies: one, they are expected to invest their
love and energy in order to integrate these young people into the
residential program. However, at the same time they know that
every visit of the UAM youth in the immigration offices could end
by their disappearance and expulsion from the country. Israeli
youths who are being educated in the same residential home have
the same conflict. Should they become friends and create
meaningful relationships with young peers that are living with
them on only a temporary basis?
The social educators interviewed showed an impressive attitude.
In spite of the complexities, they are attracted by the humanitarian
challenge. The stories of these young persons are really
heartbreaking and very touching. They had suffered a lot on their
way via Egypt and the Sinai desert, being tortured and threatened
by Bedouin who saved their lives only after receiving large
amounts of ransom money. This is a very frustrating situation for
24
social educators and they all mention it as their number one
difficulty in coping with this special challenge.
*
Unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Spain
Background: The unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are
mainly from Morocco, Algeria, Mali, Nigeria, Guinea Republic
and Romania, the average age is 15-18 years old. Each one of the
seventeen autonomous communities that make up the state of
Spain has their own authority for child protection. The
unaccompanied minors stay at reception foster centres for no
longer than six months. If they are considered abandoned or
neglected children, the autonomous community takes charge of
their custody and cares for them until they are 18. If they meet the
requirements to take part in the ex-custodial youth programme
they can get some protection until they are 21. They live in
apartments with other young people supported by social
educators. When they are over 18, the current immigration laws
are applied to them. If they are not considered underage or
abandoned, they are repatriated, or if they stay out of the child
protection system as illegal - sometimes with valid passports
stating that they are under 18.
- Social educators in Spain
The refugeeminors have resources that they bring with them from
their former life in their home country – resources that are still
present in spite of the great challenges they are confronted with
during the long and insecure trip. At the same time, many are
traumatised and feel an overwhelming responsibility towards
their family. They consider their current life situation as an
obstacle in order to creating their own family and a better life for
themselves and they are hence very eager to learn Spanish,
whereas the community languages such as Catalan or Basque are
found to be less attractive.
As in the other countries, the refugee minors are mainly boys.
When they come from male-centred societies, it can give the
women social educators (who are the greater part of the social
educators) difficulties in being recognised and legitimised as
valuable professionals in the eyes of some refugee minors. In these
situations it is of course also very important to be able to
communicate, be open-minded and open-hearted and show
25
empathy – and at the same time be clear on limits and attitudes. In
general it is about working with no prejudices and to insist on a
position as a respected adult. A culture of team spirit and
teamwork is of great value in making this happen.
In most residential homes part of the staff is from the countries
where the minors are originally from. The purpose of having
people with the same origin work together with the social
educators is to improve the communication and understanding of
cultures and habits. This comprises support for the refugee minors
and the social educators in improving their understanding of
language and cultural habits. But sometimes complex and difficult
situations can appear when social educators and people without a
social educational background are supposed to work together. In
these cases, social educational methods can be challenged by other
ways of handling situations.
A daily routine is to support them in sharing households. For each
individual there is a project: Research on education, training and
leisure activities. In building up a personal life project, it is
important to support the children in this process and pay careful
attention to the voices and wishes of the minors. The social
educators work in order to empower the minors and encourage
them to make their voices heard in decisions concerning their
current situation and support them in their dreams for the future.
Patience, belief and hope are of high value in the social
educational work, and at the same time having a constant
awareness of the minors as people with a goal in life and a
personal project. The social educators are very aware of key points
for the success of integration – to support the minors in learning
the language, building up a social network and being prepared for
a job situation. All in all, it is of great importance to try and
empower them as citizens. Also, when repatriation has been
decided upon and the social educators provide support in
preparing the minors to go back.
Reflections on empirical studies and theoretical perspectives
There is no doubt that ending up in a place where basic needs are
covered, and where there are adults to look after one, is of
enormous significance to the refugee minors. Perhaps they haven't
arrived at the country that was at the top of their wish list, but
they do have a temporary refuge. Alternatively, they choose to
26
flee further, before the fingerprints are taken, thus binding them
to seeking asylum from the country concerned.
- Trust
A lack of trust by the refugee minors runs like a red thread
through most of the empirical studies. The experience of
desertion, dangers, lies and risks have marked the children and
youths. Niccola Titta from Italy views it as a huge challenge to
build up the trust of the refugee minors, to have them dare to trust
the professionals, that the adults wish to do good for them, that
they keep their promises, that they can be called in when conflicts,
etc. arise. It concerns quite fundamentally whether the children
and youths feel themselves to be safe where they are, and that it
for example becomes natural to go to sleep without wearing their
outer layer of clothing – the latter being an example from the
Danish empirical studies.
The social educator tries to build up trust, however it is a long and
tough struggle with minors who during their flight had been on
red alert and not had reasons to trust many of the adults who they
have met on their way. And then their future is uncertain, and
perhaps they will meet with prejudices in the surrounding society.
The social educator has in other words high odds against them in
this work to establish trust, and as a number of the social
educators interviewed also indicate, it takes time to build this up
among the children and youths.
- Resources
At the same time, many of the children and youths exhibit self-
effacing behaviour, and this can contribute to social educators
being able to overlook the resources the children and youths
possess: that they are extremely ready to learn, that they have
lived with taking responsibility for themselves, and that the long
dangerous journey that they have been out on requires special
strength. It thus is important in the social educational work to see
these resources and to actively use them in supporting the child or
the youth.
The refugee minor is first and foremost not a victim, but rather a
person with a special strength, and this special strength must be
used to master life in the here and now, where the uncertainty
about the future and the radical separation from the home
environment are such violent markers in the life of the refugee
27
minor. The separation thus concerns not only being secluded from
family – but also from being separated from their own culture and
trying to navigate in a new one. This is such a large intrusion into
a life, and every sign of strength ought to be grabbed by the social
educator, so the resources can be channelled into the life situation
that the child or youth finds themself in. He or she must be
supported in building a personal life project, like every other child
or every other youth does, and that it is his or her voice that must
be heard, and his or her dream of a future that the social educator
must motivate and be in together with him or her.
- Resilience - a theoretical view
In recent years the concept of resilience has played a continually
greater role in the work with vulnerable children and youths. This
has resulted in a change of perspective, where an increased focus
on strengths and resistance among the vulnerable children has
been emphasised and led to burdensome upbringing situations
and traumatic events being regarded to a lesser extent as
determinative and to a greater extent as something that can be
overcome and potentially become a strength in the long run. The
view of vulnerable children and youths as resilient, and thus not
predetermined to have a poor future based upon the events of the
past, has at the same time led to practical changes in social
educational work with vulnerable children and youths in general
as well as with refugee minors.
At present, work is being done in many countries to a large extent
based upon an understanding of children as subjects and
independent actors who react differently to the conditions of life
and the conditions of upbringing that they are exposed to. The
refugeeminors are perceived as independent individuals who are
in a position to overcome difficult challenges when support is at
the same time available. Heritages and biological risk factors thus
play a smaller role and are no longer perceived to necessarily be
decisive for the further development of the child. In this sense,
there has been a change in the direction of a more positive view of
development. This is, among other things, expressed in the social
educational efforts in a number of countries, but also in an
international perspective in that the UN is currently working on
an approach to unaccompanied refugee minors where the
resources are in fact weighted and placed at the centre of the
efforts. Resilience is thus an important point of focus in relation to
the efforts taking place under the auspices of the UN.
28
Resilience arose as a theoretical paradigm back in the middle of
the 60s, and since then it has developed into being a more
nuanced concept today that draws in biological, psychological
and environment-related factors. The Danish developmental
psychologist Dion Sommer writes that ”Resilience involves
explaining why some people who have grown up under extremely
problem-filled circumstances manage´regardless´and ´better than
expected´. (Sommer 2011).
However the introduction of resilience as a theoretical perspective
and a practical approach was as a point of departure interpreted
as an absolute characteristic of individual children who were
attributed a special lasting and permanent capacity for resistance.
Over time, the understanding has become more nuanced and
today resilience is regarded to a higher degree as a potential that
can be realised in an interplay between a variation of internal and
external factors. It thus is perceived to an increasing degree as a
capacity or a potential with all children, who with the proper
protection factors are in a condition to overcome extreme risk
factors.
An immediate explanation for resilience and a resource approach
playing a significant role at all in the work with unaccompanied
refugee minors is that the capacity for resistance in many cases
obviously finds expression in this group. It involves children and
youths with resources regardless and who exhibit behaviour that
illustrates that people are in a condition to overcome very
burdensome conditions. It is on the overall those thoughts that
formed the basis for the UN deciding back in 2009 that the efforts
for unaccompanied refugee minors would in the future use a
resource view as a starting point, just like it also is those thoughts
that seem to be expressed in the social educational approach that
is being elucidated in this report. An example is the Danish social
educators, who emphasise focusing on those resources that are
present in the here and now, whereas they devote less attention to
the traumatic events. Such an approach is an expression of a social
education that is in accordance with resilience and the resource-
based approach.
The increased focus on resilience has gradually led to the more
psychodynamic approaches that previously marked the
methodology to a large extent now being used to a lesser extent.
29
Through a psychodynamic lens, coming to terms with the events
of the past is observed as a precondition to obtaining a better
future, and the past thus has a much greater role. When an
approach with an emphasis on resilience is practiced, it is in
contrast the present that is placed at the centre based upon a
consideration that a good life in the here and now will create
protection factors that can contribute to overcoming those risk
factors that are applicable. This has resulted in an approach where
a positive development potential is emphasised instead of those
barriers that potentially stand in the way of achieving a better life
situation.
In addition, there are also pragmatic grounds to focus on the
present instead of the past in the social educational efforts. There
is often talk of an unresolved situation, where the time perspective
is unknown, and the resource approach is in this connection must
more usable. One risk is however that placing too much emphasis on
resources can overshadow those traumas that the children and youths
often carry with themselves as unaddressed on their future paths,
unfortunately with a risk of creating larger problems in the future for the
individual and the surrounding society.
- Trauma-informed care – a framework for understanding
A significant part of the refugee minors have been subjected to
traumatic events, which causes them to always be on red alert.
They live in permanent fear of having to find themselves in new,
unpleasant and painful situations. Brain researcher shows that
traumatised children and youths often have a hypersensitive
nervous system, where the ”alarm” sounds in situations that
actually seem to be calm and secure. When this occurs, stress
hormones are injected out into the circulation, and the minor loses
contact with that part of the brain that is reflective and sensible
(Perry 2006), and their behaviour is affected to a significant degree
by this.
Trauma-informed care (TIC) involves meeting the violated and
traumatised minor with recognition and respect and with an
understanding of why he or she has a special behavioural pattern
– for example in the form of difficulties in controlling one's own
feelings, in understanding one's self and one's own reactions, and
especially difficulties in entering into relationships with other
people. Trauma-informed care must be viewed as a framework for
understanding the child or youth, and on the basis of this
30
understanding the interventions or methods are then selected that
are assessed as being able to provide the best support.
The Australian Howard Barth, who is an international expert in
the field, highlights three important primary pillars in the work
with trauma-informed care: SAFETY, CONNECTIONS and
MANAGING EMOTIONS. The first primary pillar, safety,
concerns significant aspects of the empirical studies that has
emerged in this report, where the work of the social educators
with building up trust among the refugee minors is focused.
According to the thinking behind trauma-informed care, an
important prerequisite for human development is that the child or
youth find themselves in an environment that provides safety.
This involves not only physical frameworks, but also for example
emotional, cultural and spiritual safety. To be able to participate in
creating this safety is an interdisciplinary task that involves the
social educator, the teacher, the doctor, the psychologist, the
therapist or the possible volunteer, who are the adults who have
the child or youth in their custody. Sharing of knowledge and a
common approach to the efforts are of great importance.
The second primary pillar, connections, is closely related with the
experience of safety. Children and youths exposed to trauma may
very well connect adults with poor intentions or outright evil
feelings. Hence they can meet adults with suspicion, avoidance or
possibly unfriendliness, and thus the meeting with children and
youths exposed to trauma who have demanding behaviour can be
an extremely large challenge. When the social educator is met for
example with anger, it is a natural reaction to also react back with
anger. This can be viewed in light of the brain being equipped
with mirror neurons, which limit those emotions that one can be
met with (Hart 2008). However an imitation of these emotions is
far from appropriate, and the social educator must continuously
be attentive and reflecting in relation to their own reactions and
have a respectful and appreciative approach to the child or youth
so he or she gains a feeling of being surrounded by supportive
and caring adults.
The third primary pillar is managing emotions, or the management
of effects, which is an acquired ability in the primary socialisation
of the child or youth. Children and youths exposed to trauma who
might have acquired this ability in childhood can become
regressive and after the fatal events not in a condition to ”come
31
down” or calm themselves on their own. Brain research shows
that traumatic life events can reduce activity in the frontal lobe's
frontmost sections in both halves of the brain, and this explains
among other things a reduced ability to calm and control oneself
(Van der Kolk 2003). Here, the children and youths exposed to
trauma have use for the social educator's support. This occurs
through comfort, body language, vocal pitch, active listening and
behavioural adjustment. Through this, the child or youth can
learn to tackle feelings and impulses, to calm down and to avoid
aggressive actions.
- Life history work
The work with the life histories of the children and youths, or
choosing not to do so, is touched on in particular by the Danish
social educators. They choose not to enter into a life history unless
the child or youth very directly invites them to, which
occasionally happens when the substantial work of building up
trust has taken place. However, there are reservations also in this
situation for what it is appropriate to talk about. This is based
upon the device that there is not a professional to”pick them up”.
Some of the social educators state that there is a substantial risk of
re traumatisation if traumas are opened up without having the
resources to arrange for a process of coming to terms with them.
The question then arises: When do the children and youths ever
have the possibility to talk about the past and come to terms with
their losses, fears and risky behaviour? Could cutting off the life
history in the social educational practices, and the omission of any
possible therapeutic practices, not leave the children and youths
with a feeling that the professionals who have the task of
supporting them are only interested in seeing resources? One of
the two main issues at the international conference on protecting
and supporting children on the move, Barcelona 2010 (see page 5)
was the importance of listening to the refugee minor’s stories
about their flight, the background and the situation now. This
raises a very critical perspective on the life circumstances of the
children and young persons who are hoping and waiting for
residence permits.
- The narrative – a theoretical view
The narrative approach in the social educational work is used on
the overall to create space for the life history as a constructive
story, in which the traumas are not necessarily at the centre. The
32
narrative approach is fundamentally based upon an observation
of the history as creating meaning and being crucial for our
experience of meaning and identity. Sharp differentiation is made
from objective assessments of the individual's history as being
right or wrong, in that the life history or the narrative is regarded
as being subjective and thus as true to the extent that it is an
expression of an experience of the person who is doing the
narrating. That the narrative in that sense is always an expression
of a truth does not mean that the story cannot be changed. To the
contrary, the narrative or story is an expression of a situational
interpretation, which evidences the perception here and now, but
which may change in the future.
The narrative is expressed through the language, which is
composed into a meaningful story. In the connection that thereby
takes place between the language, story and identity, the narrative
will be established as an expression that evidences our
understanding of ourselves in relation to our surrounding world.
Our stories about ourselves and our history are in this manner
powerful testimony that gives an insight into the status that the
underlying experiences have in the here and now in relation to the
actual life situation.
Even though in the narrative approach there is an interest in the
underlying, there are points of similarity with a social educational
approach, which is oriented around resilience and the resource
approach on the overall. A narrative approach also directs the
focus on the life history as it is told in the here and now, and it
operates with a positive development viewpoint in that traumatic
events are attributed a status as surmountable rather than
determinative. The language and the story are observed as an
expression of the individual's understanding of the past, present
and future, and the social educator's task then is to contribute to
constructing a space where the life story is given room and where
other perspectives become possible.
In the narrative approach, the story is viewed a giving meaning
and a life history that expresses resilience and resistance thus is a
story that can be constructive in that it produces a presentation of
the future as being surmountable. The connection between
resilience and the narrative is illustrated among other things in the
definition of resilience by one of the big names in the field, the
French psychiatrist Boris Curulnik. He defines resilience as: ”… a
33
process, a child's development, which from action to action and from
word to word registers its development in an environment and its
history in a culture. It thus is to a lesser degree the child who is resilient,
but rather its development and history” (Cyrulnik 2002).
The quotation illustrates the connection that exists between
approaches that are associated with the concepts of resilience and
the narrative, and between people and their surrounding world.
In a culture where positive development is observed as a
possibility despite traumatising events, it is probable that
resilience will also to an increasing degree become a reality. In a
narrative approach, one is not as in psychodynamic theory
hunting after the history's traumas. Potentially traumatising
events are observed not in themselves as traumatising, but are
such to the extent that they are given meaning as such for the
individual. However even in those cases where something is
identified as a trauma, it is not final. The narrative or the life story
can be changed over time and the interpretation of the past may
assume another status through interaction with the surrounding
world.
A narrative approach in social educational practice thus involves a
fundamental respect for the individual's story. As a social
educator it is crucial to refrain from adopting an expert position
and in that manner putting oneself in control over what is right
and wrong. The social educator's task is to create space where the
narrative may unfold and where value is attributed as meaning-
creating and a subjective testimony, which is recognised on those
premises. The social educator ought to refrain from judging,
interpreting and directing attention to an underlying meaning.
In the social educational work with unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers a narrative approach can be a manner of making room for
the individual's history, while at the same time creating space for
it being able to become a history of strength and survival, instead
of solely being about traumas and losses.
- Language and communications
Acquisition of the language is attributed great significance by the
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Through the language, one
is in a position to communicate with and understand one's
surrounding world, and in particular it is an important entryway
to finding a job and getting an education. The acquisition of
34
language skills is also experienced by some of the social educators
as being important in the other direction, in that a number of them
emphasise acquiring large vocabularies and basis sentences from
the respective native languages in order to be able to
communicate with the children and youths. In addition to being
important as a means of communication, it also signals at the
same time obligingness and interest. The Spanish social educators
tell of prioritising employees from those countries that the refugee
minors come from, and that this can ease the communications
across cultures. But at the same time, it can also create significant
challenges when these employees do not have the professional
social educational skills. A familiarity with the socio-cultural
aspects, professional social educational skills and a smaller
linguistic preparedness are in other words a good point of
departure for support for the child or youth.
In special instances, for example interviews with authorities,
conflict negotiating or therapeutic interviews, it is necessary to call
in professional interpreters for support. In this context, a specially
trained social educator from Israel places an emphasis on what is
difficult in conducting therapeutic interviews with an interpreter
as a mediator. There thus is a great challenge in establishing a safe
and direct bridge when the communications goes through a third
party.
- Conflicts, wars and rights
The Italian social educators highlight in specific the importance of
possessing an overview of the areas with conflicts in the world.
Where are the special flashpoints, and what political realities are
the children and youths fleeing from? This is simply in order to
have an understanding of what society that has surrounded the
child or youth and consequently has also affected him or her.
In addition, it is important to know the rights of the child or
youth, to work for such not being trodden on, including also
being attentive to the processing of the case of the child or youth
occurring as the law prescribes – and being able to communicate
this case processing to the child or youth so that he or she knows
how the system around him or her works.
- Respect
To have lived with taking responsibility for oneself can make for
challenges when meeting with established structures for care. The
35
social educators can find themselves with very self-administrating
children and youths, who perhaps do not really understand the
point of giving a message about where they are going or accepting
the kindness of social educators in providing support. The
Spanish empirical study also placed an emphasis on the challenge
that can arise when boys from more patriarchical societies meet
female social educators. Entering into these relations is often a
very demanding task. In this connection it is especially crucial to
continue to show respect, not judge, to be listening, have empathy
and be supportive, and in this situation the setting of boundaries
is even more a requirement and a professional shield that often is
quite necessary.
In general the children and the youths in the overall empirical
studies are described as enormously respectful, patient and
curious to learn new things, and a ”good” adult is also to be
understood as one who teaches. The flight is seen as a factor that
has matured the children and youths, they have become humble
with respect to life and do not in any manner expect to have
everything handed to them. The Danish social educators also
describe how externally reacting behaviour is never directed
towards the personnel, who hence can safely enter into the
management of conflicts when the atmosphere comes to a head
between the youths.
- Family and job
The lack of family and family obligations is also a theme in the
empirical studies. Many feel an overwhelming responsibility for
the family they might have left behind, and the most tangible
manner of helping is to have the possibility to earn money. In the
empirical study from Israel, this is touched on explicitly as a
challenge: that getting a job is far more in demand by many young
people than going to school and participating in various activities
– also even if many jobs take place under very poor conditions.
The question is, how can going to school and activities awaken the
interests of the minors to a greater degree? The Israeli empirical
study also elucidates a theme that can be of significance to the
degree of commitment to school and those activities that take
place in residential homes where Israeli minors also live: in these
cases it can be a challenge to establish good relations between the
unaccompanied refugee minors and those of Israeli origin,
because the former group will as a matter of course leave the place
within a short period of time.
36
- Fellowship and network
Especially in the Danish empirical study, social educators also
place an emphasis on exploring the world outside together with
the children or the youths. This could involve participating in for
example a fitness run (many of the children and youths are
extremely good runners) or in excursions. Here, there is a basis for
”a common third”, and the possibility for constructing
experiences together, to laugh together, and to do things that for a
moment place tragic life situations into the background. Some
building up of a network outside the residential homes can also
make a contribution to a construction that some of the social
educators interviewed also expressed their support for – also
because such can in the long run help the child or youth in the
integration process after the stay at residential homes.
- The common third – a theoretical view
The common third is one of the central concepts in contemporary
social education. On the overall, it can be defined as an external
condition that is established as a point of attention for the
participants in a pedagogical interaction. As Michael Husen
writes, the common third is: ”… central in an authentic manner of
being together… It doesn't matter whether one is more clever, knows
more, has more skills. The primary thing is that there is something
external, a common affair that both are preoccupied by, and which they
are preoccupied by together." (Husen 1996).
The common third is thus a practical approach, where the social
educator establishes a fellowship with the or those people who are
encompassed by a tangible social educational effort. At the same
time, the approach stands in opposition to approaches with a
more treatment-related aim. Pedagogical efforts with a focus on
the common third are a manner of practising a form of social
education that places an emphasis on the resources of the
individual and which places less significance on diagnoses. A
starting point is taken in what the person can do, instead of what
he or she cannot do.
The potential in this approach is in part the integrating element,
which is associated with the establishment of a fellowship around
the common third, and in part that this fellowship can be used
constructively in relation to supporting positive development for
37
the individual by realising resources through a constructive
interaction with the social educator. In accordance with
approaches with an emphasis on resilience and the narrative, a
positive view of development is also being operated with in this
connection. When the social educator and a child, youth or adult
in fellowship direct the focus to the common third, it gives the
possibility to meet eye-to-eye and thus to work constructively
with motivation and relationship work. A starting point is taken
in the positive potential – that is those resources that the
individual has at their disposal, instead of focusing on unlearning
undesirable behaviour. The task of the social educator is to create
that space where the meeting with the common third can take
place, and to work in that space in an objective-driven manner to
develop that potential that becomes expressed.
In the work with refugee minors, this approach especially has
potential. There is an emphasis on the positive relation in the here
and now, where two people meet transversely and in fellowship
direct their attention to a common third. When linguistic and
cultural barriers are a reality, this can be a beneficial manner of
meeting around something in common. Concretely, it can involve
playing sports together, making food or supporting the children
and youths in cleaning or in performing other domestic activities.
What is essential for the work with the common third is that the
social educator is conscious of the power relationship that applies
in the relations and uses it constructively. The social educator has
by virtue of its position a superior power position, which must
thought into and made constructive in the meeting with the child
or youth. This means that the social educator must take
responsibility and teach, but at the same time refrain from
adopting an expert position where he or she is making demands
for knowledge. Hence it is crucial that the common third be
represented with something that both parties can identify with
and that both parties can contribute positively to. In the meeting
between a social educator and for example a refugee minor, where
both are focusing their attention on a common point of attention,
the power relation that implicitly is present in the relationship is
obscured. Social educators thus ought to do this consciously and
assume the responsibility as a facilitator for a positive interaction,
where the resources of the individual appear more clearly than
any possible barriers.
38
- Lifting everyone's spirits together
In the Spanish empirical study, emphasis is given to the
importance of having a workplace culture where team spirit and
teamwork are given high priority. This involves very challenging
work and lifting everyone's spirits together creates better
preconditions for a successful social educational effort. To be the
adult for children and youths who do not have others is a
completely special and challenging situation, which is only
rendered more intense by these children and youths being
disconnected from the culture they come from - simultaneously
with them being marked by the very violent situations they have
had to survive during their flights. This encourage a working
environment where the social educators support each other in
providing the best care, considering the conditions involved, for
the children and youths. But also support in jointly coming to
terms with their frustrations in wanting these children and youths
to have much better circumstances.
Systematic use of supervision can be a useful tool for social
educators who desire to increase their professional competences
and strengthen their abilities for constructive reflection on their
work with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. Supervision can
in this manner support a positive trend and create space for social
educators to be able to provide support for each other by
reflecting in fellowship. In the supervision, the ownership and
responsibility thus is also taken for the different competences at a
workplace being set in play in the best manner possible. In
addition to this, neither is the individual professional left alone
with the special challenges that he or she might have in their work
with the unaccompanied refugee minors.
- The social educator caught in cross-pressures
Social educators find themselves in a high-pressure field, where
he or she must accommodate the needs of the child or youth to tell
and be listened to, and at the same time be very aware that the
system is arranged such that the child or youth will perhaps be on
their way again in a week. This can result in a stressed work
situation, where it is difficult for the social educators to
accommodate simultaneous and contradictory requirements. Not
only in relation to delving into a life history, but also in relation to
mastering investing in both the hearts and brains of the children
and youths they know for a short period of time and most likely
will never see again. The social educator has so-to-speak a triple
39
mandate: the children and youths have their needs, the authorities
have theirs, and at the same time the social educator has their
professional ego, where he or she must reflect over the structural
policy conditions - and what such mean for the children and the
youths and the professional efforts in their work with them. At the
same time, social educators, in their daily practices, need to
disconnect themselves from frustrations over policy conditions
and focus on the humanitarian dimension in the face-to-face
relation and accept that it is not possible to solve all problems.
This is among other things the case when Danish social educators
on the one hand express a complete lack of comprehension of the
system's premises in connection the interviews with authorities,
whereas on the other they remain professional in their work with
the children and youths regardless of whether he or she has been
rejected for asylum or not. Another, and in this context last,
example of how powerlessness comes close to the social educators
is the frustration that Israeli social educators feel over the
inhuman treatment Bedouins in the Sinai Desert subject children
and youths to – a frustration that is deep and which is
fundamentally due to conditions that the social educators have no
possibility to change.
A proclamation against excluding mechanisms
In the AIEJI publication ”The professional competences of social
educators – a conceptual framework” a social educational effort is
described as being oriented around individual needs, but that it at
the same time ought to aim at countering excluding mechanisms
on a structural level. The question is, precisely what possibilities
does the social educator who works with unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers have in this space?
The structural level can be understood on different levels: A) the
political authority level on the uppermost level such as legislation
and the exercise of authority B) the political authority level on a
more regional level in the form of decisions concerning local
efforts and the allocation of resources C) the surrounding society
understood as neighbours and the local community. Especially at
the last level, the social educator has a possibility to counteract
excluding mechanisms. Here, it concerns supporting the child or
youth in the communications with people in the surrounding
society and to a certain extent in setting the framework for
individual children or youths to be able to invite relationships into
40
their lives. It can also involve ”adapting” the surroundings: The
social educator's conversations with for example neighbours,
parents, business operators and others who in one or another
manner meet the children and youths without getting to know
them.
The two other structural levels lie directly outside the reach of the
social educators, however the social educator possesses the
knowledge about the life situations that children and youths find
themselves in – and this knowledge is important to communicate
so that the decision-makers hear it. This does not necessarily mean
that social educators should find paths to the decision-makers.
However the dialogue with local officials, networks, associations
or organisations that work to improve the conditions of life of the
refugee minors must be prioritised. This in an attempt to secure
the rights of the children and youth, and the spread awareness of
the framework that makes it difficult or perhaps impossible to
meet the fundamental needs of the children and youths, which is
central to the social educational efforts.
Communication of knowledge can be seen as a superstructure on
top of the daily practice, where there is an emphasis on work with
relationships in often very demanding situations. To be a
mouthpiece for the children and youths, and for the professional
practices in the work with them, requires a certain amount of
surplus energy and can for some seem to be unmanageable or
remote, and for others as a natural and significant part of the
overall efforts. Whichever it is, it is then important to reflect on
one as the professional adult for children and youths in such
vulnerable positions being the resource that can disseminate the
knowledge that in the long run can contribute to reducing the
vulnerabilities of these minors. However, the children and youths
can in themselves be a resource in the communication of
knowledge, through stories of their daily lives, backgrounds and
challenges faced in life, and the social educator should be
attentive to whether the framework can be created for such.
In Switzerland, the ”Speak Out” project is creating the framework
for unaccompanied minor asylum seekers to collectively articulate
their situation. This occurs through meetings where they discuss
their special challenges, what is of significance to them, and who
they would like to meet in order to ask questions and
communicate knowledge. On International Refugee Day in 2013,
41
the group of children and youths participated in for example
UNHCR stands in different Swiss towns, and later in the year in a
camp where they made a film on their life situations and where
they formulated a Charta with recommendations. In addition,
they met with representatives of the Ministry of Migration, and
created an exhibition on their life situations and legal status.
How social educators can support unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers
A number of important messages about social educational
practices in the work with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers
emerges in the preceding paragraphs. These messages are pinned
down in the following and hopefully can give rise to inspiration,
questions and reflection for social educators in this field of work.
Presence
To listen and be aware in the individual moments with the child
and youth is essential, so the feeling of being seen asserts itself. In
certain instances there will not be many of these moments - if for
example the child or the youth flees again or is sent home – but
every moment or every meeting with an adult who is present and
providing care has significance to the child or youth, also in the
long run.
Life in the here and now
The unaccompanied minor asylum seekers are children and
young people just like all other children and young people. They
are in the middle of a life as a child or youth and must navigate
and learn during these life phases in line with others of their age.
But what is special is that the unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers have been disconnected from their family, friends and
cultural context that they have been shaped by. The social
educator is a professional adult in the life of the child or youth in
the here and now, and the distinguished task is to teach and create
a framework for a life where the child and youth feel looked after
and seen, and where experiences of happiness are present - a life
with a mind for learning, friendship and a community of interests.
Belief in a future
As other children and youths, the unaccompanied minor asylum
seekers also have the dream of a future - with an education, job,
friends, lover(s), leisure time interests and perhaps a family and
42
children. But the dream obviously has, due to the very uncertain
life situations, more difficult terms and conditions. Nevertheless,
it is the belief in a future that contributes to a lust for life despite
the difficult circumstances. Hence it is crucial that the social
educators do their best to support them in the belief in a future,
regardless of whether this is a resident of the country where they
are now, in their home country or perhaps in a third country.
An integrated view of the child and youth
The social educator's view of human nature is essential. Does one
see the resources the child or youth has, and does one understand
that this potential is to be utilised in the life situation in the here
and now and in the work of getting the child or youth to believe
in their future? And does one also see the special challenges and
problems the child or the youth has, and understand to intervene
in relation to such? For instance to identify trafficking and what
influence this has on the child or the youth.
It is important that the child or youth experience that the social
educator has an eye for and interest in all sides of life - including
also stories and life histories about things that are difficult,
perhaps caused by fear, desertion, murder and persecution, where
it is important as a social educator to be a listening adult and to
help the child or youth on their way in the best manner possible.
A cultural and communicative view
Fundamental knowledge about the cultural norms that the child
or youth has grown up with has great value in the social
educational work. Has the minor for example been shaped by a
collectively oriented culture with an especially religious mindset
and rituals connected with such? What does this mean for the
child or youth in their daily life and patterns of action, and how
and to what degree can such be accommodated? Knowledge and
reflections in relation to this are important for the social
educational practices – to try to understand the individual's
motives and to arrange the work with the relationship in relation
to this. This is work that, all other things being equal, is also
strengthened by knowing selected vocabulary and basic sentences
in the native language of the child or youth, and work that
requires special preconditions if the communication takes place
through an interpreter.
43
Knowledge about conflict areas
Knowledge about the conflict areas that the child or youth has fled
from is also of great significance to being able to meet the refugee
minor and have an understanding of what he or she has removed
themselves from, and also to be able to enter into a dialogue about
it. Such can involve ethnic or religious conflicts, wars, suppression
by those in power of sections of the population and global
political measures.
Legal basis and rights
It is important to know the laws that are decisive for the
processing of the case of a child or youth in connection with an
application for asylum, including also procedures upon
acceptance and rejection. This is in order to be able to ensure that
fair processing of the case takes place and to be able to
communicate and explain to the child or youth the process that is
taking place. Likewise, it is important to know the rights of the
minor with respect to UN conventions – and to attempt to hold
the authorities to such when the rights of the child or youth are
being trodden upon. The social educator will not necessarily
inquire directly to the political decision-makers, but it is crucial
that the social educator communicate their knowledge to
organisations, networks or resource persons who seek political
influence in favour of the unaccompanied minor asylum seekers.
Civil society
Communications with the local society concerning the special life
situation and challenges of these children and youths is also an
important part of the social educator's efforts. Here, there is
essentially a focus on a work task that is 'off the reservation',
however an invitation 'into the reservation' can have a significant
effect. That persons from the civil society meet the children and
youths in their temporary home has significance to the
construction of a somewhat stronger network, where the ”home”
tells an important history about the life that is being lived.
Co-operation and workplace culture
To support and qualify each other as best as possible to be able to
give the refugee minor asylum seekers the care and the support
that they have a need for requires interaction within the personnel
group concerned. It can be in relation to the social educational
effort itself or in relation to having the feeling of lifting everyone's
spirits together and being able to consult with colleagues, who
44
take ownership of the total social educational practices at the
workplace, and see an honour in supporting colleagues when
particularly challenging work situations arise. Supporting the
child or youth is also an interdisciplinary task, and all adults
around the minor must work together, whether it is social
educators, teachers, psychologists, therapists, doctors or possibly
also volunteers.
Supplementary training
Completion by social educators of a course of education where the
above areas are a part of the syllabus would without doubt
qualify personnel groups to perform still better work for the
unaccompanied minor asylum seekers. This requires that a goal-
oriented and qualified course of training is developed. This
requires resources and especially motivation among the social
educators in order to qualify themselves still further, strengthen
their competences and integrate new approaches into their work.
Concluding perspectives
The purpose of this report has not been to reveal the degree and
specific manners in which the rights of children are being trodden
upon. However the material bears witness in different contexts of
experiences where the surroundings that set the framework for
the well-being of minors could do so much better.
Guideline for Alternative Care of Children (UN 2010), which
supports the UN's Child Convention, dictates that a proper and
permanent solution must be arranged for minors in those cases
where it is not realistic to return back to the family and this
solution must be in accordance with the child's needs. However,
as already indicated, excerpts from this report point to areas
where doubts about compliance with this can be raised.
One example is, when authorities conduct interviews that of the
social educators are experienced as inquisitorial instead of being
forthcoming and revealing: system representatives, in connection
with asylum applications, look for holes in the refugee minor's
report and do not take into account that the child's narrative
structure typically is different from an adult's. Examples are
described in the material of the narratives of children and youths
being doubted based upon unreasonable criteria, for example
such as a knowledge of quotations from a religious book. One
challenge is thus to equip the system representatives so that their
45
practices can create trust to a higher degree instead of the opposite
and in general operate based upon ethical guidelines in
accordance with the UN.
Another example, where the interests of the child or youth is not
accommodated is when he or she is not given the possibility to tell
about their past and their life situation. Social educators
experience that it takes time, calm and therapeutic competence to
start a course of treatment where traumas are addressed and lives
analysed, and such may only with difficulty be combined with
being in transit for perhaps a quite short time. Examples are seen
in the material of social educators who in no manner motivate the
children and youths to tell about what is torturing them – based
upon the consideration that there is a great risk of
retraumatisation if the requisite framework for these
conversations is not present. The challenge thus lies in the system
creating a framework where the child or youth will be heard and
respected, and for the social educators to be attentive to the needs
of the child – also when it involves talking about difficult things,
regardless of whether he or she finds themselves in their
temporary home for a longer or shorter period of time. Upon
being sent home or being transferred, it must then be ensured that
the child or youth is looked after professionally from here,
including that the life narrative or therapeutic course of treatment
that may have been be initiated.
The material also points to the surrounding society being of
significance to the well-being of the children and youths. This
could be in relation to the building up of a network, but is also
simply feeling welcome when one goes to the grocer's or takes the
bus. Negative attitudes towards people who come from other
countries as refugees obviously renders the situation of the
minors difficult. There thus is a political upbringing element in
restraining excluding mechanisms in those environments that
surround the temporary homes of the children and youths, and
the dialogue of the social educators with the community likewise
has great significance.
The well-being of the children or youths is dependent upon
systems and attitudes surrounding them being founded on
respect for the special life situation that they find themselves in.
The UN's Child Convention and the UN's Refugee Convention
build on an ethics that takes fundamental rights into regard and
46
opposed discrimination, and the many countries that have ratified
the conventions are hence also obligated to comply with these
values when the country concerned has unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers in its custody. Even though this theme is not
central in this report, it is essential to emphasise that some
countries due to their geographical location receive particularly
many refugees, which places individual countries under intense
pressure. It is a challenge that must be resolved at an international
level, because it is of great significance at the present points in
time for the work with the minor refugees - especially in countries
that are located just inside the borders of Europe. However the
highly dangerous flight on overfilled boats across the
Mediterranean must be a highly prioritised political theme. The
UN and various human rights organisations thus are appealing
for an alternative asylum policy that minimises these illegal and
highly dangerous flights. The EU Commission has at the time this
is being written proposed that the asylum process be moved
outside the EU's borders, so refugees may seek asylum with EU
representatives in third countries, in order to reduce the incentives
to risk one's life on the Mediterranean.
The above-mentioned problems may in fact seem to be far
removed from the daily life where social educators provide the
tangible efforts for the children and youths. However different
levels work together and the more pressure there is on individual
countries, the more difficult it becomes to provide a proper, stable
effort in accordance with the UN’s conventions. Social educators
perform competent and crucial work every day for the children
and youths, but they cannot solve the challenges alone. It requires
political action on an international level and in the individual
countries to ensure fair efforts on behalf of unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers that contribute constructively to their well-being
and the rest of their journey.
*
In all of AIEJI´s work, the people we work with are the focus of
the projects and our main concern. In this publication the focus is
on the social educational work with the unaccompanied minor
asylum seekers and the global responsibilities for these children
and young people. In order to respect the rights of the refugee
minors, we must fulfil our responsibility in each country.
Furthermore, social educators are one of the professions who are
most qualified and needed in this work. Hence it is also important
47
to ensure and develop qualifications and competences by focusing
on the education of the social educators who work with the
refugee minors.
As the closing salute, AIEJI desires to send a message about what
is important on a national level to make sure that the minor’s life
situations will improve. This will ultimately have influence on the
quality of the work with unaccompanied minor asylum seekers.
- Children’s rights, as they are expressed in the Rights of the
Child, should be incorporated in all national legislation
and administrations
- Children placed outside the home, or children without
parents, must by law be ensured their rights during the
placement as well as inside the home they are assigned to
- All countries should have a Children’s Ombudsman who
can monitor the implementation of the convention
- All professionals responsible for children and youth are
obliged to comply with the convention and use it in their
daily practice
- The educational institutions for social educators must
ensure that the students know the rights of the child and
gain the necessary competencies to fulfil these rights.
48
Annex 1
Interview guide
- regarding unaccompanied minor asylum seekers
Questions/social educators
About children/youths
1. What kind of institution do you work at? (Public,
volunteer, other kind)
2. How do the children and youths come to you? (what
process leads them to your institution?)
3. How old are the children and youths coming to you?
4. What is the division between boys and girls?
5. What countries do they come from and where were they
born?
6. Do they speak the language of your country? If not, are
they ready to learn your language and can you offer them
the learning possibilities?
7. How long do they stay with you and where do they go
afterwards?
8. What is the responsibility of your institution towards the
youths and the children coming to you?
9. What are special characteristics of the youths and
children?
10. What are the biggest difficulties they are facing?
11. What resources do they bring?
49
About social educational work
12. What kind of activities are you doing with them?
13. Are they happy to take part in these activities?
14. Do you ask them whether they would prefer other
activities and do you have the possibility to take action on
that?
15. If you were asked to guide a new social educator who was
entering your working field – what would be the three
most important pieces of advice to give concerning
communication with the children and youths?
16. What competences does a social educator need in order to
succeed in working with the children and youths?
17. Dealing with possible conflict situations in the children
and youths group – what is important to manage as a
social educator - to solve the conflict and to teach the child
or youth to solve possible future conflicts?
18. Do you understand basic words or sentences in their
original language – if yes, do you use them in your
communication?
19. Do you think social educators in your working field
should focus on integration into society – if yes, how?
20. Do you think you have enough resources and possibilities
to ensure adequate care and treatment of refugee children?
About political issues
21. What is the legal status of the refugee children and youths?
22. What are the biggest differences between them and
children/youths in general in your country – concerning
life possibilities?
50
23. If political decisions dictate a return to their country of
origin – do you think it is the social educator’s role to
prepare them for reintegration in their homeland, also
even if they don’t want to return?
24. If the child or the young person obtains a residence permit
– what will happen to him or her afterwards?
25. Do you think that the rights of refugee children and youths
are respected in your country?
*
Questions/youths
About daily life
1. What activities (school, spare time activities, hobbies,
housework) are you taking part in where you are now?
2. Would you like to take part in other activities? If yes –
what activities?
3. Is it possible for you to take part in decisions about your
daily life?
4. Would you like to learn more of the language? If yes –
what is a good way of learning for you?
5. What is important for you while staying where you are
now?
6. What do you think of being together with other young
people in the same situation as you – does it mean a lot to
live and be together with them?
7. Are you spending time with persons outside the centre/the
institution? If yes, what do you think about that?
51
Thoughts, reflections and experiences
8. Is it important for you to talk with others about your
situation?
9. Is it important for you to talk about family, friends and life
where you come from?
10. What would you like to learn while staying here? And
what have you already learnt?
11. Is it important for you to learn more about the culture in
the country where you are now?
12. If you had three wishes – what would they be?
About the adults
13. How can the persons who work where you are help you?
14. What is a good adult for you? (meaning the adults who
work where you are)
52
Annex 2
Summary of survey – AIEJI 2013
Material from empirical studies about unaccompanied refugee
children and social educators
Two articles from the UN Child Convention are especially
important for our issue:
20. CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF FAMILY CARE - A child deprived
of his or her family environment is especially entitled to protection and
care, for example foster placement, or if necessary, placement in suitable
institutions or adoption.
22. REFUGEE CHILDREN - A child who is seeking refugee status
or who is considered a refugee shall receive appropriate
protection and humanitarian assistance. The state shall in co-
operation with international organisations assist an unaccompanied
child in being reunited with his or her parents.
Unaccompanied refugee children are defined as: Children who
have fled not being with their parents or other adult(s) with
responsibility. The children are without a permanent residence
permit and they do not necessarily have status as refugees with
rights pursuant to the Refugee Convention.
Members of AIEJI from 16 countries answered questionnaires, in
the autumn of 2013, with a quantitative focus about the situation
of unaccompanied minors in their country, and about the social
educators' participation and role in the work. We will only briefly
present the answers here in this report.
The countries that answered the questionnaire from their national
organisation for social educators, members of AIEJI, were
Germany, Slovakia, Uruguay, Luxembourg, Switzerland,
Norway, Israel, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Australia, Italy,
Spain, Croatia, Austria and the Netherlands.
53
The answers, representing just a small part of the world, show us
that minors flee from many countries, with some countries more
represented on the overall. Those are Afghanistan, Somalia and
Syria. Countries in Africa and the Middle East seem to be highly
represented in the countries we have information about here.
Most of the countries have a minimum of 20 nationalities among
their unaccompanied minors. That means that every country
needs to build their services for this group on a basis of being able
to handle many different cultures and languages.
The numbers of unaccompanied children vary widely. Italy is a
country with very high number of refugees, and also minors
coming alone. That is because Italy is a common way to go from
Africa to Europe, and many people come by the sea. This gives
Italy, and also other countries in the same situation, such as Spain
and Australia, special challenges.
Everywhere, there seems to be a large amount of boys who have
fled. Some countries, for example Germany, report that only 5 %
of the unaccompanied minors are girls. The ages of the children
are mostly between 15- 18. Switzerland reports for example that
over 86 % are of this age when they arrive.
Most countries in our survey have special residential care for the
unaccompanied children. Residential care, foster care and living
with relatives are common for these children. But it is also a mixed
picture here as to whether the children live with other children
under public care, or with other refugees. It seems like the rights
for these children are not as strong as for the nation's own
children in several countries. In many countries it seems that most
children are given a trustee to help them in looking after their
rights.
In all countries, social educators are a larger or smaller part of the
professions that work with the children, both where they live, and
during their schooling and recreational time.
The questions follow here, with the answers from each country.
54
1. How many unaccompanied refugee children – with legal
and illegal status - are there in your country
(approximately)?
Australia: In 2013, 1,078 locked in immigration detention facilities.
A total of 1,760 are detained in the community under residence
determinations. A total of 1,816 are living in the community where
their parents have very limited rights. It is difficult to find
numbers for UM, but about 600 children are in alternative places
of detention, but probably not only UM. In January 2015, there
were 211 children in Immigration residential Housing,
Immigration Transit Accommodation and alternative places of
detention.
Austria: 1,781 in 2012.
Croatia: 5
Denmark: 268 in 2013.
Finland: 1,900 applied for asylum in 2008-2012.
Germany: 2012: 4,300 registered by youth welfare. In total there
were approximately 9,000 in 2013, only 5 % are girls.
Iceland: 1-5 each year, in 2013 there were 2 children.
Israel: About 1,000.
Italy: 985 unaccompanied arrived in 2011: a total of about 7,750
UM in Italy, 90 % boys and 85 % are between 15-17.
Luxembourg: 23 in 2013
Netherlands: Approximately 2,000
Norway: In 2013 the population in reception centres was 479.
Slovakia: One in 2013.
Spain: in 2008: 8,080
55
Switzerland: 485 in 2012 (1.69 % of the total asylum seekers), 86 %
of these are of an age between 15-18. Of these are 76.1 % are male
and 23.9 % female.
Uruguay: 20.
2. What countries are the children from, and what
percentage from each country (approximately)? Please
also name your source.
Australia: Iran, Sri Lanka, China, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Iraq, Bangladesh
Austria: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria
Croatia: Somalia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Denmark: Afghanistan, Algeria, Somalia, Morocco, Syria
Finland: Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan
Germany: Most of them are from Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and
Iraq
Iceland: Syria and Tahiti
Israel: Most of them are from Sudan, Eritrea, Rwanda and Niger
Italy: Somalia, Eritrea, Gambia, Togo, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya,
Algeria, Congo
Luxembourg: Afghanistan, Algeria, Albania, Sierra Leone,
Tunisia, Libya, Morocco
Netherlands: Afghanistan, Somalia, Angola, Congo, China (90
nationalities)
Norway: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Syria are the
most
Slovakia: Afghanistan
56
Spain: Morocco (mostly), Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast,
Guinea Conakry, Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Angola, Romania
Switzerland: Eritrea, Afghanistan, Tunisian, Guinea-Conakry,
Somalia, Gambia, Syrian, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, DRK, Albania,
Algeria, Belarus, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Mali, Nigeria
Uruguay: Dominican Republic (Haiti) and Colombia
3. In what kind of institutions do the children live in your
country?
Australia: Living in off-shore or on-shore detention facilities, or
they might be detained in the community under residence
determinations.
Austria: In specific residential accommodation places. The quality
is lower than for the national child welfare.
Croatia: Residential homes for children.
Denmark: Asylum centres with educated staff on behalf of Danish
Red Cross or local communities. Some of the children live with
relatives, and rarely also in foster homes or in special institutions
because of special needs.
Finland: Under 16s live in group homes for refugee children.
Many live with relatives. Over 16s live in reception centres. All
children get a trustee.
Germany: They live in homes run by youth welfare mostly. Every
child also needs to have a custodian (“vormund”). The quality of
home differs from state to state. Some live with German youths,
some in foster homes, and some in big residential homes.
Iceland: The national Child Protection finds a place for the child
to live, foster care or residential care.
Israel: 150 are integrated in youth villages, others live with
relatives and receive only educational services from the state.
57
Italy: Reception of asylum seekers. They want a family type
community. Italy has very big challenges, because many asylum
seekers and refugees come to Italy first. Children and other
vulnerable groups have special rights to be protected and get
support, and they have many different projects going.
Luxembourg: They normally live in refugee centres.
Netherlands: Foster families, most from the same culture, small
living units specialised for unaccompanied minors, special units
in centres for asylum seekers (not the best solution they think)
Norway: Reception centres mostly, some of them in ordinary
centres, most of them in centres especially for UM. Those who are
under 15 are in centres under the auspices of the Norwegian
Directorate of Children, Youth and Family Affairs. Some are also
in foster homes. When they have the right to stay, they move to a
municipality, where the municipality decides how the children
are to be taken care of. Most of them live in houses with other
children.
Slovakia: Foster homes for unaccompanied children and
children’s home.
Spain: First reception Centres, Residential Centres (basic or
specific for diseases), Autonomy Homes. In some regions they live
together with Spanish children, in some regions not.
Switzerland: In 8 (the largest) of 26 cantons there are specialised
shelters for minors, other cantons have to provide shelters for
asylum seekers. Some are in foster families or children’s
residential centres or placed with relatives. Older ones are in
normal shelters for asylum seekers if no specialised place are
available.
Uruguay: The social ministry has the responsibility.
4. Are social educators working with the children in the
institutions? – other places, such as…?
58
Australia: They do not have a human service or a profession
called social education, but they have social workers, youth
workers and welfare workers.
Austria: Yes, together with social workers and other professions
with special skills.
Croatia: In residential homes for children with behavioural
problems, together with social workers. Educational rehabilitators
work in centres for education.
Denmark: Yes, together with several professions.
Finland: Yes. Social educators work with children who are taken
into custody (17,000 in Finland), and where the children live and
receive support.
Germany: Yes. Most of the staff members are social workers,
social educators and youth educators, and some psychologists. In
public youth welfare, mostly social educators, and they are staff in
schools.
Iceland: Most of the social educators work with children with
disabilities, and it is social workers and psychologists who work
with child protection.
Israel: Most of the work is done by social educators, but also by
volunteers.
Italy: Yes, together with other professions.
Luxembourg: Yes, there are some social educators working in the
institutions, but they have time to care for the children for only
few hours a day.
Netherlands: Yes.
Norway: Yes. Social educators are together with other professions
in these institutions. They are present especially in the work with
the children under 15.
Slovakia: Yes, together with other professions.
59
Spain: Yes, and in: autonomy development, social and laboral
supporting, in schools, in the community, in offender minor
centres.
Switzerland: Yes, together with other professions
Uruguay: Yes, both public and private.
5. How many social educators (approximately) are working
with the children in your country?
Australia: They do not have a human service or a profession
called social education, but they have social workers, youth
workers and welfare workers.
Austria: 80-100.
Croatia: No numbers.
Denmark: Don’t have exact numbers.
Finland: It is difficult to find exact numbers, 10,000 is the total
number of social educators in Finland.
Germany: More than 1,000.
Iceland: No.
Israel: Around 100.
Italy: No numbers.
Luxembourg: 5-6.
Netherlands: More than 1,000 employees in 2000, most of them
educated and social workers.
Norway: No statistic, but the social educators work with the
children both in the institutions and in the offices that are
responsible for decision-making and finding places for the
children to be.
Slovakia: No numbers.
60
Spain: No numbers.
Switzerland: No numbers, but according federal regulation each
child has to be assigned a person of trust and for a younger UMA
a legal guardian.
Uruguay: No numbers.
